This book’s a bit more predictable in terms of origin, as it is another library copy. At almost 500 pages, I gobbled it up in about two days. Not the best thing the literature universe has delivered, but definitely a fun ride. Enjoy the review!

MILA 2.0

As far as Mila knows, she’s a normal 16 year old girl, living in a tiny town in the middle of Minnesota. She lives with her single mother, after her father died in a fire in Philadelphia, where they used to live. But after an injury reveals a shocking secret, Mila realizes that she’s anything but human. Mila was an android, designed by the U.S. military to be the ultimate killer. To keep their identities a secret and their lives safe, Mila and her mother must evade the authorities in whatever way possible. But though they may run, they can never truly hide…

I’d say my book-rating scale rating would be about a 7. Hmm…6.75. Yeah, that’s fairly accurate. Not the best, but certainly not the worst. A fast-paced, action packed, and exciting novel.

I hope you all have a wonderful rest of your day, and keep on posting those SW quotes and gifs!

Again, I’m home sick, (I SWEAR TO GOD, THIS COLD WILL NOT LET GO), but don’t worry-this time, I’ve got a book review!

This one’s a book I’ve been anticipating eagerly since October of last year. It’s the sequel to Scythe (If you want to see my review for that one, see 10/17/17), and boy, if the first book was mind-blowing, Thunderhead BLEW IT OUT OF THE WATER! Which, honestly, was no surprise, as Neal Shusterman is a spectacular author, but let me just warn you that the ending left me…

…how should I say this?

Speechless. Mentally unstable. Shook. DEADISH.

Alright, I had to throw in a Scythe joke in there at some point. Not sorry. Here’s your review!

No spoilers. Promise.

Thunderhead (Arc of a Scythe, #2)

Since their apprenticeship, Citra and Rowan-now Scythe Anastasia and Scythe Lucifer-have gone in wildy different directions. Scythe Anastasia has remained within the Scythedom as it slowly crumbles into corruption. She knows something must be done, but everything she tries is blocked from all directions. Even with the help of her mentor, Scythe Curie, it seems that the Scythedom is doomed. Scythe Lucifer, after failing his apprenticeship, has broken off from the Scythedom, snuffing out all of the Scythes he deems corrupt. He’s now one of the most wanted people in the Scythedom, but thusfar, he has evaded them for almost a year. Through it all, Scythe Anastasia isn’t the only one with it’s eyes on the Scythedom’s path. The Thunderhead, the digital ruler of the new world, is not pleased with what it sees. But is there anything it can do?

Okay, THIS BOOK IS A MASTERPIECE. FIVE BIG FAT STARS. SOLID TEN ON MY SCALE. JEEEEEEEEEEESUS, I LOVE THIS BOOK.

(SIDENOTE-I’m pretty sure I looked like Chris Pratt here a few times while reading Thunderhead. No joke.)

Yep, I think the Arc of a Scythe series is now up there right next to The Search for WondLa and Keeper of the Lost Cities as one of my favorite book series of all time.

Okay, that’s probably a teensy bit biased, but that’s what I’ve truly come to believe. I had bought a few songs off the original album, and they blew me away, but this re-release truly blew it out of the water. Don’t believe me? Here’s my review!

TRACK 1: “My Boy (Twin Fantasy)”-8/10

Though it’s only around two and a half minutes long, this song is a beautiful mix of simultaneous hope and poignancy, with consistancy and slowy building vocals and instrumentals. *sad smile* Aww, Will…

TRACK 2: “Beach Life-In-Death”-7.5/10

Normally, my patience for songs runs out at about eight minutes. “Beach Life-In-Death” clocks in at about thirteen. But the good thing about this song is that it’s like three different songs. The first five minutes or so have lyrics that reflect a sense of boredom and redundancy. Then, it changes to melancholy and regret, then slowly transitions back into fast-paced instruments similar to the first third of the song. Me gusta.

TRACK 3: “Stop Smoking (We Love You)”-8.5/10

This was one of the songs I initially bought off the original version of the album. A beautiful, pleading melody with a great message to top it all off. This new version backs up the instrumentals in the background a lot, making the song almost more powerful and meaningful, in some strange way.

TRACK 4: “Sober to Death”-10/10

This was the second song I bought off the original album. And OH MY GOD, Car Seat Headrest blew it out of the water EVEN MORE with the new version of this song! I loved the original the second I heard it, but this version makes me want to jump out of my chair and scream, cry, and dance. It really stirs up my soul and makes it want to burst at the very seams with pure joy. I swear I’m not overexaggerating-THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST SONGS IN RECORDED HISTORY. PERIOD.

TRACK 5: “Nervous Young Inhumans”-9/10

(This is the greatest music video ever. I gotta learn Will Toledo’s little dance.)

This song was the other one that I bought off the original album. Though I miss Will Toledo’s little rant about galvanism and Frankenstein and whatnot, I loooooooove the new version of this song. The lyrics (slightly changed) are easier to understand now, and their cleverness and wit truly shines through with this track.

TRACK 6: “Bodys”-7/10

Not the best track on the album, but a fun, catchy, and at times a bit hilarious song.

Okay, I’ll admit, the first time I heard Will Toledo say “Is it the chorus yet?
No. It’s just a building of the verse…” I cracked up. No joke. It’s almost like he wanted the song to end…God, I love Will so much.

TRACK 7: “Cute Thing”-9/10

Aaaaaah! Lovelovelovelove! Such a beautiful, quirky, song-something about it feels like a sort of anthem. An Indie-Rock love anthem. Also, kudos for the They Might Be Giants references.

TRACK 8: “High to Death”-7/10

This song moves about like a lazy river, foggy and misty, almost like a kind of wistful dream. Almost beautifully melancholy, and in the slightest sense, almost dirge-like. The lyrics of “Stop Smoking (We Love You)” are hidden in there too, but they’ve been twisted a bit, which I thought was interesting. I didn’t like the random samples and looped vocals for the last two or so minutes of the song.

TRACK 9: “Famous Prophets (Stars)”-7/10

Like the track prior, “Famous Prophets (Stars)” has a dream-like quality, albeit a 16-minute long dream. It’s a pretty song, but after about around ten minutes, you kind of get the feeling like, “Jesus CHRIST, is this song ever going to end?” Like “High to Death”, there were some odd samples, and more lyrics from other songs (this time, slowed down lyrics to “My Boy (Twin Fantasy)”.

TRACK 10-“Twin Fantasy (Those Boys)”-7/10

With some lyrics borrowed from one of their older songs (“Sunburned Shirts”), more looped vocals, more brief Will Toledo musings, and an air of melancholy, regret, and almost jealousy, “Twin Fantasy (Those Boys)” makes for an interesting track. I like it about the same as I did “Bodys”. A sweet, wistful kind of song.

Just like I did with MASSEDUCTION, I averaged all of my scores for each song, and came out with a solid 8. Overall, pretty dang close to a masterpiece as far as albums go. An amalgam of melancholy, angst, hope, and poignancy that I doubt I’ll get tired of in the near future.

I hope you enjoyed my album review, and have a great rest of your day!

Yeah, sorry, I forgot to do the BRT this week, sorry. I was home sick, and I kept thinking of doing it, but I never ended up doing it. I’ve been reading some really good stuff lately, though, so you can expect something good for next week’s BRT. 😉

Also, Happy (belated) Valentine’s Day! (Believe it or not, I had something of a date…if you can call Neal Shusterman’s Thunderhead a valid date…)

Don’t worry, I’ve got something good up my sleeve for either tomorrow (or sometime in the very near future), because Car Seat Headrest’s Twin Fantasy review came out today, and boy, am I pumped! I’ll probably do a review of it, and you can expect that it’ll be far less salty than my MASSEDUCTION review I did last year. (Such a disappointment…)

Pretty much the most boring month of the year. There’s Valentine’s Day, but that’s pretty much all that goes on. Plus, Valentine’s Day is basically for stuffing yourself with overly sweet chocolates and insincere, fill in the blank cards.

*Will Toledo voice* “I’m so sick of…fill in the blank…”

Aaaaaaanyway…

PLOT TWIST-I got the following book from an internship I had at my local bookstore. I got to pick out seven Advanced Reader Copies in exchange for a review of all of them. (The best part? If I didn’t like the book, all I had to write was “Would Not Recommend”!)

It seemed that this ARC had been in there a little while, as it came out last November, I believe. But anyway, it was the first really fantastic one that I came across. Enjoy my review!

Kat and Meg Conquer the World

Though Kat and Meg are both freshmen in the same high school, they couldn’t be more different. Kat just moved, and she’s introverted and suffers from an anxiety disorder. Meg is far more extroverted, but she has ADHD and her parents just divorced. But when they’re partnered for a science fair project, they discover that they have so much more in common than they thought-in particular, their shared love of the video game Legends of the Stone, and a YouTube star who plays it. Soon, they become immersed in their LotS-oriented project, but it soon takes them down roads they’ve both never traveled before-be it a LotS convention, boyfriends, and even the YouTube star himself.

Squee! Even if you’re not a gamer, you’ll have no trouble understanding or (thoroughly) enjoying this book. Very realistic, diverse characters, fast-paced and well written, and all around fun! (Also, the back of the book said that it’s perfect for “fans of Nicola Yoon’s ‘Everything, Everything’, which I adored, so that’s a plus.)